Mayer, Prosser Crash Top-Seeds' Party in Miami

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 17, 2011) – John Mayer and Matt Prosser made it through the consolation bracket to crash a semifinal party of top seeds at the Miami Beach Pro, part of the Jose Cuervo Pro Beach Volleyball Series, produced by USA Volleyball and IMG.

After falling in their second-round match on Saturday, sixth-seeded Mayer (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and Prosser (Ventura, Calif.) won three matches in consolation to advance to Sunday’s men’s semifinals, where they will have a rematch with third-ranked John Hyden (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) and Sean Scott (Redondo Beach, Calif.), the team that beat them in the second round, 21-19, 21-11.

“We’ve played them four times this year and they’re 4-0 against us,” Mayer said. “They are the top team in the U.S. this year. They are both good servers, so we have to fight off their serves. They aren’t going to make mistakes, so we have to play them tough.”

Mayer admitted that the Miami weather - high heat and humidity - has made things difficult.

“The humidity is so much more than we get in Southern California,” he said. “I don’t train in this.”

Nevertheless, Wallin was happy with the progress she and Harris have made.

“We’re really happy with the way we’ve played this tournament,” said Wallin, who celebrated her 29th birthday on Saturday. “Our goal is to get better every tournament. Playing highly ranked teams is the only way you’re going to get better.”

Wallin was also pleased with getting to play in her home state.

“We love it,” she said. “We love playing in California, too. But it is great not having to take a plane flight.”

In Sunday’s women’s semifinals, top-seeded Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) will face Kropp and Pavlik while Fendrick and Hanson, who had to win three consolation matches on Saturday to advance, will play Branagh and Hochevar.The semifinal matches are scheduled to start at 10 a.m. The women's finals will be Sunday at 1 p.m. followed by the men’s finals at 3 p.m., which will be live on VERSUS.

The Jose Cuervo Pro Beach Volleyball Series kicked off at the $200,000 Manhattan Beach Open in Aug. 26-28. Following the Miami Beach Pro, it moves to Hermosa Beach, Calif. on Sept. 23-25 for the $150,000 Jose Cuervo Pro Beach Volleyball Series National Championship. The series offers a combined prize purse of $500,000, the most in the U.S. this year.